Indian football team gears up for ‘bigger challenge’ against Myanmar
Just a few days after winning their first-ever away international friendly since June 2005 against Cambodia in Phnom Penh, the India senior men’s football team landed in Yangon on Saturday afternoon for what national coach Stephen Constantine described as a “bigger challenge”. Constantine said that it was nice to be training in Phnom Penh for two days after the friendly. “The weather conditions in Phnom Penh are almost similar to that of Yangon. The sessions were helpful .”
Referring to the crucial Asian Cup qualifier against Myanmar, Constantine said, “The match against Cambodia was necessary to gauge a lot of things. But Myanmar will be a much bigger challenge for us. We are aware of their strength. Their recent performances show how difficult a team they are to play against.”
The last time India played in Yangon was in the Qualifiers of the AFC Challenge Cup in 2013 when they went down by a solitary goal in the decider.
The Indian women’s team drew with Chile 2-2 in a closely-fought first match here on a cold evening ahead of the all-important Women’s Hockey World League Round 2. It was Chile who got off to a positive start with an 18th minute field goal by Agustina Venegas to take a 1-0 lead. It didn’t help India’s cause when Renuka Yadav was handed a green card only a minute before Chile converted the goal. But India held their nerves to score an equalizer in the 35th minute. Anupa Barla was responsible for the team’s first goal through a penalty corner.